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rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 02:28 AM

I recently got court ordered for a hair follicle test and had to take it immediately. Hair is down to my butt and hadn't washed it. I've probably smoked 1-2 hits of marijuana 5 times in a month in a half. Will I pass? Prior to that I don't recall specific time of consumption. Would someone who took on average a hit a week still fail?

smoothy · Sep 19, 2012, 05:01 AM

You should fail and lets hope you do... since you insist on breaking the law and using drugs after being ordered by the court not to.

And you wouldn't have court ordered testing if you hadn't already been judged and found guilty.

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 07:02 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

I recently got court ordered for a hair follicle test and had to take it immediately. Hair is down to my butt and hadn't washed it. I've probably smoked 1-2 hits of marijuana 5 times in a month in a half. Will I pass? Prior to that I don't recall specific time of consumption. Would someone who took on average a hit a week still fail?

On average infrequent (once weekly) use of cannabis is not detected in hair drug testing.

A very ineffective method for detecting infrequent use of any drug but especially so for cannabis.

Was this a criminal or domestic case? If for probation I would suspect that they would also urine test simultaneously which provides greater chance of detection for recent use than hair.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 10:32 AM

Actually I have no criminal history or history of drug abuse. I was aiming high on my guessing of consumption. I believe this was ordered because of rumor of use of a different drug. Which I know I haven't used. I realize all drugs are illegal, but I don't think I should lose my child over a few hits of pot.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 10:35 AM

And online it states 50 Ng's is the level that is read in testing. What is the amount consumed to equal this?

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

And online it states 50 Ng's is the level that is read in testing. What is the amount consumed to equal this?

Thanks for clarifying the nature of the case. In a domestic civil the test will be restricted to that specifically ordered, hair.

You are looking at the wrong information. 50ng would be cutoff for urinalysis of THC not hair. That is conducted at a low picogram range due to poor detection in hair.

The only thing that worries me is your mention that the test was immediate and you hadn't washed your hair. Had you smoked since the last time you washed your hair?

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:22 AM

No, I hadn't smoked since I last washed my hair. Does that matter? I thought they washed the hair prior to testing. A

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:30 AM

A little more of the back story is that recently my sons father was able to get supervised visits and at any time can take a random drug and alcohol test. He has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and was so upset about it he made some claims that made them question me. Some may say having a few hits of pot over a few months is not a problem and others may disagree. I rarely do it and thought if my sobriety was ever in question a UA would be the form of test used. I feel like so much can go wrong and all I can do is wait.

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

No, I hadn't smoked since I last washed my hair. Does that matter? I thought they washed the hair prior to testing. A

There is no standard wash procedure from one lab to another and at best the procedures are only 90% effective. Contamination is always a consideration in hair testing. Who is choosing the lab?

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

A lil more of the back story is that recently my sons father was able to get supervised visits and at any time can take a random drug and alcohol test. He has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and was so upset about it he made some claims that made them question me. Some may say having a few hits of pot over a few months is not a problem and others may disagree. I rarely do it and thought if my sobriety was ever in question a UA would be the form of test used. I feel like so much can go wrong and all I can do is wait.

It should make you feel a little relieved to know that infrequent cannabis use is near impossible to detect. Base drugs, such as cocaine are easy but not the cannabinoids.

Infrequent users are far more likely to be detected via urinalysis than hair testing.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:43 AM

How is a positive measured?

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

How is a positive measured?

Hair testing (HDT) like all drug testing is done in two steps. The first is a basic screen. If that is negative then no further testing is done. The result is returned as negative. If step one returns a positive it cannot provide a measurement but the test then goes to confirmation by a more precise instrument and that then provides the amount of drug in relation to quantity of hair tested: ex. 20 pg/20 mg hair.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:56 AM

Drbill, could you clarify a little more?

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by rrk28

Drbill, could you clarify a little more?

Don't know that I can. That is pretty much the story.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 12:02 PM

Smoothy, many people are court ordered to prove themselves especially in cases where people are questioning your character because you questioned someone else's. It isn't going to hurt my feelings that you rather assume and judge. I am only guilty for what I stated at best.

rrk28 · Sep 19, 2012, 12:09 PM

Thank you Dr.bill, I still don't know if I have anything to worry about or not. I have a week for results to come back and I haven't been able to stop thinking about this. I just wanted to know what to expect and right now I'm thinking the worste and wondering what a fail would mean. Since its such a small amount will it just come up as positive or as a trace?

DrBill100 · Sep 19, 2012, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by rrk28

Thank you Dr.bill, I still don't know if I have anything to worry about or not. I have a week for results to come back and I haven't been able to stop thinking about this. I just wanted to know what to expect and right now I'm thinking the worste and wondering what a fail would mean. Since its such a small amount will it just come up as positive or as a trace?

If the test were positive it would provide a quantity but the quantity cannot be correlated to amount of use. So, to that extent, a positive is just that: A positive. Hair is what is known as a reservoir matrix, and cannot provide detail of amount of use for any drug.

I do not expect, based on the information you provided, that will be of concern.